Treatment of labels



Mmh 1o, 1925.V :1529,090'

Filed oct. 2s, 1921` 'cs-sheet 1 March 10,-1925. 1,529,090 v l A. R. scHoLlN l TREATMENT oF LABELS f 'Filed 001'..l 2B, 1921 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 6 Sheets-Sheet A. RiscHoLlN TREATMNT oF LABELS Filed Oct. 28, 1921 Much 1o, 1,925.-

ZzUevf/L" W AXEL R. scHoLIN .E IM me l" L? /l Cf/J.

A. R. SCHOLIN TREATMENT 011 LABELS Filed Oct. 28

. 1921 e sheets-sheet 4 Filed Oct. 28, 1921 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 illlllllmllllll @w ^O A O EN QN A V Marh1o,192s. 1,529,090

Y A. R. scHoLlN TREATMENT 0)." LABELS Filed oct. 2a, 1921 6 sheets-sheet c Patented Mar. 10, 1925. y UNITED STATES AXEL R. SCHQLIN, F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORTO AUTOMATIC WRAPPING MA.-

CHJN E CO., OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION vOF ILLU'OIS.

TREATMENT OF LABELS.'

Application mea october-2s, 1921. serial No. 511,118.

To all whom t may concern.' i

Be it known that I, AXEL R. SoHoLIN, a

citizen of the United States, residin at Chicago, in the county of Cook and tate of Illinois, have invented certain new and i useful Improvements in the Treatment of Labels, ot' which the following is a specilicatlon.

This invention relates to thel application lo of wrappers or labels to packages by a process and apparatus similar to that shown in my Patent No. 1,417,946, granted May 30, 1922, of which the present application contains divisional subject-matter.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved process and apparatus for the purpose designated.

The invention is exemplified in the combination and arrangement of parts shown in the accompanying drawings and described in the following specification, and it'is more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings- Fig.. 1 is a top plan view of a portion of a labeling or wrapping machine embodying one form of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section substantially on line 2-2 of Fig. 1; y

Fig. 3 is a vertical section showing the stretcher rollers and paste applying mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on line 4-4 of Fig. 3;l

Fig. 5 is a top lplan view of a portion of a labeling machine showing the 'tempering runway and conveyer;

Fig. 6 is a vertical section on line 6-6 of Figal;

Fig. 7 is a vertical section online 7-7 of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view of a detail construction. 5

In the application of wrappers or labels 45 to packages, such as circular cans of paperboard or sheet metal, it is desirable that the wrapper shall be stretched tightly about the package so that the package will bel airtight when sealed. To accomplish thisA the wrapper is preferably thoroughly soaked or tempered and stretched before it is placed upon the package, and after the soaking and stretching process it may be pasted an wrapped about the packa e while still moist.

When the wrapper has t us been applied it will contract in dryin removing all wrinkles and giving a per ectly sealed cover plication to packages and forms a part of a machine shown and claimed in my prior patent referred to above.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings, a tank 10 is supported upon a frame 11 and within the tank is disposed a conveyer 12 for conducting wrappers over the tank. The conveyer 12 comprises a pair oi sprocket chains 13 connected by crossrods 15 and passing over sprocket wheels 16 and 17 carried by shafts 18 and 19, respectively. The shaft 18 is connected by a pair of gears 20 with a shaft 21 journaled in bearings 22 carried on the frame of the machine above the tank 10. The shaft 22 is provided with pawl and'ratchet mechan-- ism 23 which is actuated by a reciprocating rod 24 to impart periodic rotation to the shafts 18 and 21. As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the alternate cross-rods 15 of the conveyer 12 carry gripping plates 25 pivoted thereon. The gripping plates 25 vare provided with tailpieces 26 which bear upon controlplates 27 positioned within the confines of the conveyer chain. In the straight-away portions of the conveyer each gripping plate 25 is held against its precedin cross-bar .15 by its Ktailpiece 26. The gui e plate 27 at the ends of the conveyer 1s spaced inwardly a greater amount than at the straight-away portions, permitting the gripping plates 25 to move outwardly away from the crossbar 415, as shown at the opposite ends of the conveyer in Fig. 6.

The sheets 28 are fed to the tank by a set of rollers 29 and 30 to which the sheets may be presented, one at a time, by any suitable mechanism. The rollers 29 and 30 are prol vided with interfitting peripheries which form corrugations in the sheet, thus stiiening the sheet so that it will be projected in a substantially .lat plane from the. rollers to the tank'. As the'sheet is being fed to the tank it is subjected to a spray of hot water from a head 31 to which water is supplied. For some grades of paper, water at substantially boiling temperature is pre-'- ferred, but lower temperatures may-be used f for other grades, especially for some soft apers. The water is directed against the ower face of the sheets by tubes 3l and the jets or streams assist in supporting the sheets as they move onto the runway. The rollers 29 and '30 are driven by gearing 32 which is operated in timed relation with the reciprocatlng rod 24. The parts are so timed that` a sheet will be discharged onto the conveyer' at each pause -in the movement of the conveyer under the action of the pawl and ratchet mechanism 23. Each intermittent movement of the conveyer brings a new clamping plate 25 substantially into the. position shown in Fig. 6. In this figure a sheet 28 is shown as it is being brought into place to be clamped by the gripping plate 25.

To properly positlon the sheets on the conveyer a pair of strikers 33 and 34 are arranged. to engage the sheet and move it into the position to be clamped b the gripping plate. At the time that t e sheet is dischar ed from the rollers 29 and 30 the forw'ar striker 33l is in its upper position shown in broken lines in Fig. 2 so that the sheetenters below the forward striker, but

' falls upon the top ofthe rear striker 34.

The striker 33 then moves downwardly pressing the sheet against the top of the conveyer, as shown in Fig. 6, and the rear striker swings upwardly snapping past the rear edge of the sheet.- The rear striker then returns to its lower position on the top of the sheet, as shown in Fi 2, and the .-Of the guide plate and the bar 25 immediately ahead of the bar on' which the guide plate is pivoted. It will be seen that in this way the conveyer is supplied with a series of sheets, each sheet lying chieiy on top of the preceding sheet, but having its rear edge overlapping fora short distance behind the rear edge of the sheet directly beneath it. will be seen that by this arrangement the forward edge of each sheet will project for a short distance beyond the forward edge of the sheet ,immediately above. By this arrangement the slideway for the sheets above the tank is given a large capacity and each sheet is moved slowly along the slideway to give ample time for the water sprayed upon the sheets to thoroughly penetrate the same. Themovem'ent of the sheets along the slideway is augmented by a wheel f35 carried on the shaft 21 and provided with springpressed-contact pllugs 36 projecting from its periphery. Eac movement of the ratchet wheel 23 brings anew plugcinto engagement with the upper face of a sheet on the conveyer and traveling with the conveyer assists in drawing the sheets forwardly. Any water that drains from the sheets is caught by the tank 10 from the forward end of which it flows into a basin 37 provided with dragged through the water, but vare supported above the surface thereof.

The sheets are moved forwardly until the front edge of the lowermost sheet projects over' the front edge of the tank and rests upon a roller 40. adjacent the front edge of the tank. The roller 40 is driven by a gear 41 so that its periphery travels at a speed somewhat greater than the rate of movement of 'the sheets in the tank.` Thiswill guide the forward edge of each sheet between feed rollers 42 and 43 by whichA each sheet is drawn rapidly from the tank after it has been released from beneath the pres sure wheel 35. The sheets pass from the rollers 42 and 43 to rollers 45 and 46 which are connected to roller 43 by a sprocket chain 47, the rollers l45 and 46 having a Slightly greater peripheral velocity than the rollers 42 and 43 so that the sheet in passing from one set of rollers to the other will be positively stretched while thoroughly soaked.

The sheets are prevented from adhering to the surface of the rollers by stripper bars 48 which lie in grooves formed in the-rollers and which support the sheets as they aremoved from one set of rollers to another. The roller 40 has been found to be of eat assistance in'keeping the rsheets straig t as they are fed from the slideway to the stretchingrollers. After thev' sheet lleaves the stretching rollers it is conducted by supporting chains 49 to a glue roll 50 from which it is fed to the mechanism by which it is placed upon the packages, such as that shown in my prior patent referred to above.

The striker 33 is secured to a rocker shaft 51'journaled in l,bearings 52'/ on the side of the tank and operated by a reciprocating rod 53 which may be actuated by any suitable mechanism connected in timed relation with other parts of the machine. The shaft 51 is provided with an arm 54- connected b v a link 55 with an arm 56 on a shaft 57 which carries the striker 34. y This insures the oplll llli

eration of the two strikers in proper 'timed l be controlled by a valve-60, Fig. 8. The valve has an operating lever 61 attached thereto provided with a springv 62 which normally holds the valve closed. A cam lugl which will assist in carrying the sheets to their proper position on the tempering runway.

l. In combination, means forl holding a plurality of sheets in superimposed position with two o posite edges of each of said sheets in osetv relation relative to corresponding edges of adjacent sheets, means for moving the pile of sheets thus formed, and means for individuallyl engaging each sheet near one of the offset edges thereof and for imparting movement thereto relative to the other sheets in the pile for removing the sheets from said pile.

2. Means for preparing labels for labelapplying mechanism, comprising-means for arranging labels with their surfaces in contact with one another and with their front,l

edges in offset relation, means for treating said labels while so arranged, means for moving said labels relative to said treating means, andv means for aindivdually engaging said labels adjacent the front edges thereof to extract said labels from the pile and to present said labels to said applying mechanism.

3. In a labeling machine, mechanism for arranging a plurality of labels with the front edges thereof in offset relation, means for treating said labels, means for moving said labels relative to said treating means, and means for extracting said labels, one at a time, from the side of the pile thereof toward which said labels are moved.

.wrapper from one pair of rollers to the other.'

5. In a wrapping machine, a tempering runway, means for moving wrappers forwardly on said runway, and means for pe-- riodically discharging wrappers onto said runway so that the wrappers on said runway will be arranged in offset relation tol one another. r

6. In a wrapping machine, -a tempering' runway, means for feeding wrappers for- A7. In a wrapping machine, a tempering runway, a conveyer arranged to travel along sald-runway, means for intermittently dis-V i charging wrappers onto said conveyer so that said wrappers shall engage said conveyer. in offset overlapping relation to one another, and spaced clamps on said conveyer for engaging said wrappers to hold them in their offset relation to one` another.

8. Ina wrapping machine, a conveyer having a plurality of holding clamps pivotally connected thereto in spaced'relation to one another, a guide extending along the path of movement of said conveyer for engaging said clamps for holding said clamps 1n position to engage the edges of wrappers on said conveyer, said guide being shaped to permit the opening of saidclamps at a receiving and at a discharging position, and means for periodically feeding wrappers to said conveyer at the receiving position thereof andin position to be engaged by said clamps when moved into'open position `by said uide. l

9. n a wrapping machine, a tempering runway, means for periodically discharging wrappers onto said runway, a conveyer arranged to receive the `wrappers as they, are discharged onto said runway, means for in-` termittently moving said conveyer so that the wrappers received thereby will be ar-v ranged in offset relation thereon, and an in'- termittently rotating-wheel having resilient means for engaging the wrappers on'said conveyer to assist said conveyer in moving said wrappers along said runway.

10. In a wrapping machine, a tempering runway, a conveyer for moving wrappers along said runway, and a rotary wheel having spring-pressed members thereon for engaging said wrappers to-assist in the movement ofwrappers along said runway.

' 11. In a wrapping machine, a sprayA head, a tank for catching excess water from said spray head and arranged to permit overflow at one edge thereof, means for feeding sheets of material' over ysaid edge, and projections on said edge to prevent said sheets from bein bent downwardly by the water overflowlng said edge.

12. In a wrapping machine, a spray head for moistening wrappers, means for feeding wrappers adjacent said spray head, said spray head eing positioned to dellver a stream of water against the lower faces of main on said runway a considerable length of time while such wrappers are supplied therefrom in comparatively rapid succession said runway being arranged to subject the entire' wrapper to va tempering -medium Awhile the wrapper is passing therethrough.

l la. In. a wrapping machine, a sprinkler for moistening a wrapper,l meansl for feed--` ing said wrap erl beneath said sprinkler, andmcans for .orming corrugationsinsaid wrapper to stii'en said wrapper so that it will remain substantially Hat when sub'-Vv jected to the pressure of the water from said sprinkler.

15. In awrapping machine, a sprinkler,

l for inoistening a wrapper, and a pair of rollers for feeding said wrappe r beneath said sprinkler, said rollers having interitting grooves and ridges for forming corrugations in said wrapper to stillen said wrapper. v

16. In a wrapping machine,l means for moistening wrappers to beused b said machine, a tempering runway for moistened wrappers, means-for feeding wrappers onto said runway, a pressure frame for positioning the wrappers on said runway, and means for periodically raising said .frame to permit a wrapperto be fed onto said runway.

17.l The combination with tempering mechanism for sheets, of means for withdrawing sheets from said tempering mechanism, and a roller positioned between said tempering mechanism and said withdrawing means to direct the sheetsfroin said tempering mechanism to said withdrawing means.

18. The combination with sheet-meistening means, of a runway and a conveyer forf runway, and a supplemental roller for supporting the 'forward ends of said sheets as they are presented to said pair of rollers.

19. In combination, a tempering runway for sheets, 1means for feeding sheets along said runway, a pair of .rollers 'for withdrawing the sheets fromsaid runway, and. a supplemental roller for moving the sheets from said runwa 4to said pair of rollers,

said supplementa roller beingarranged to rotate at a peripheral speed-,greater than.

the movement of the sheets along said runway.'

20. ln combination, a sheet tempering runway, a conveyer for feeding sheets along said runway, means for grippin the sheets to assist said conveyer, a pair o rollers for withdrawing sheets from saidv runwa and a supplemental nroller positioned a 'acent 21. Sheet-soaking mechanism comprising i a conveyer, means for feeding sheets, one

vat a time, tov said conve er,- anda pair of strikers operating at di erent times to lengage said sheets and press them upon said t conveyer. t

22. Sheet-tempering mechanism comprising a runway having a'conveyer therein,

means for gripping the rear edgesI of sheets i to hold them on said conveyer, and means for holding sheets upon said conveyer while theyl are being engaged by said gripping means. i 1

23. Sheet-tempering mechanism comprising a runway having a Aconveyer arranged therein, a plurality of grippers carried b said conveyer, means for periodically fee ing sheets to said runwa means for moving said conveyer in time relation with said feeding means to cause said sheets to be arranged in overlapping'relation to one an other on said conveyer, and means for holding said sheets on said conveyer while they are being engaged by said gripper.

24.' Sheet-tempering mechanism comprising a runway having a conveyer therein, a plurality of grippers carried by said conveyer, means for movin said grippers into engagement with said s eets as said grippers move about one end of said conveyer and a bifurcated contact member arrange to press upon the sheets at said end of said conveyer .and to ermit said ippers' to move between the engagement with said sheets.

ifurcations t ereof into-v 25. Sheet-tempering mechanismv comprising a runway having a conveyer therein, a plurality of grippers carried by said conveyer, means or periodically `feeding` sheets to said runway, a pair of strikers operating atdifferent times to ress said sheets upon said conveyer, means or actuating lsaid grippers to cause each gripper to enga a vsheet at a predetermined position in t e movement of said gripper, and means for moving saidconveyer in timed relation with said sheet-,feeding 'm'eans, one ofv said strikers being arranged to hold the sheets in position on saidfconveyer while they are being engaged by'v saidrv grippers.

26. In' a wra ping' machine, '.feeding Ymechanism fom-discharging sheets in sublago' Y stantially horizontal position, and means for directing a stream of liquid against the lower -faces of said sheets as they are discharged.

27. In sheet treating mechanism, means for discharging sheets in substantially horizontal position. means for directing streams of liquid against the lower faces of said sheets to assist in supporting said sheets while being discharged, and means for receiving the sheets to permit tempering thereof by the liquid discharged thereagainst.

28. In a wrapping machine, a tempering runway, means for discharging sheets, one at a time, onto said runway, and means for .directing sprays of water vagainst the lower surfaces of said sheets as they are being discharged to assist in supporting the sheets in their movement onto said runway and to supplyv moisture for tempering the sheets.

29. The process of tempering sheets of absorbent material wherein l substantially the entire surface of said sheets is treated withl a tempering medium, the sheets being arranged in oiset overlapping relation during a tempering period.

30. The process of treating labels wherein the labels Aare treated with a tempering medium and arranged in offset overlapping relation during a tempering period, the ortions of said labels covered by other la ls being subject to said tempering medium during said peri 31. The process of treating labels wherein said labels are moved along a tempering runway while arranged in odset overlappin relation, the portions of said labels covere by other labels being subjected to a tempering medium during the movement thereof in said runway.

The process of' treating labels comprising the steps of moistening substan-- tlally the entire portion of each label, ar-

ranging said labels in offset overlappingv relation and moving said labels while so arranged along a temperingrunway to permit said labels to becomel tempered by the moisture to which they are subjected.

33. The process of tempering labels wherein each label is separately zsubjected to water at a high temperature, the moistened labels being arranged in o'setoverlappin tions t ereof overlapping one another, said labels being moved along a tempering runway while so arranged to permit absorption of said moisture and consequent tempering of said labels.

34. The method of treating labels comprising the steps of moistening said labels, arranging said labels so that moistened surfaces thereof will engage one another, the labels being offset to permit ex osure of a portion of each of 'said labels uring the tempering period.

35. Means for tempering sheets comprising a runway, a conve er having clamps thereon, means for fee ing sheets to said conveyer in olset overlapping relation to'v one another", means for moistening said sheets so that the moistened portions there'- of will overlap one another when said sheets are on said conveyer, and means for moving said conveyer to transfer said sheets along said runway.

36. Means for tempering labelsy com rising a runway, means for depositing s eets in said runway in offset overlappin relation to one another, means for subjecting relation with the moistened por-V portions of said sheets covered by other sheets to a tempering medium, and ,means for moving said sheets along said runway while arranged in overlapping relation.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification on this 18th day of October, A. D. 1921.

AXEL R. SCHOLIN. 

